A blast from the past

Haven't posted here in ages. I wonder whether the posts will still show up in Facebook?

And odd thing happened on the way to the blog

So I posted a picture via email. The email included some text (which I've added below), but it didn't get into the blog post. Odd.

The picture turned out reasonably well, for a picture taken with an iPhone.

Here's the comment to go with the original post:

I have long wanted to start walking frequently again, so here I go.
It took me 15 minutes to get here from work, at something of a
leisurely pace.

I think I'll go for a walk

Overheard on BART

Kid: is my daddy going to be there?

Mom: no, he's in Oklahoma

Kid: how long does it take him to get to gramma's?

Mom: about 3 days

Kid: do we pass Oklahoma?

Mom: no, Oklahoma is another state.

Kid: a state like mexico?

Mom: Mexico is a country.

Kid: what is a state?

Mom: ummm so on the piece of land that is the United States, there are
a bunch of different parts that are called states and there are 52 and
all 52 have different names

Kid: when is he going to come?

Mom: well when you get out of jail, you don't just get to go to
another state.

Kid: why?

Mom: cuz you have to be on um what's it called? Ummm. It's like being
grounded.

Kid: how about if we send him a cell phone?

Mom: well our phones won't work there because it's different satelites.

Improper Search?

A friend of mine, along with all the rest of the people waiting to board this morning's ferry, got searched by a Coast Guard dog. He complained a little bit, but no one else did. Then he sent an email to me and some other friends.

One of his friends commented that he'd rather put up with the inconvenience than read about it in the paper later, or, worse, have to be fished out of 40 degree bay water.

I couldn't resist answering with a little classic Ben Franklin:

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

Wait. Really?

As I was walking into BART today, I noticed a bike that was at a very
odd angle on the rack to which it was locked. And had a wooden pole
(evidently the support appropriated from a near by tree) sticking
through it. Closer inspection revealed the pole was stuck through a
standard intact, if badly twisted, Kryptonite U lock.

Someone tried to steal an old low end Trek commuter bike by breaking
it's Kryptonite lock with a very long (at least 6ft) lever. And failed.

AND broke the rear wheel off the fork, for that matter.

Dirty Harry Meets Rain Man

Classic: http://xkcd.com/692/

Bazooka

Dawn: can you do something about all these cars in our way?

Dylan: sorry, I forgot my bazooka

Dawn: what's wrong with you?

Dylan: hey, if that's the only thing we forgot we're doing pretty well.

No, really, everything is fine!

I love BART. I can always tell they're having a problem if there are significantly more people on the platform than normal. Of course, their service advisory page admits of no problems...

Cover Every Detail

I am on BART, reading a book about petroleum refining over the shoulder of the guy sitting next to me. The chapter he's on right now is about simple distillation techniques, and includes a discussion of a moonshiner's still. There is a drawing of a rudimentary still, with wet rags for cooling at the appropriate spot. Also, a shotgun, for accuracy.